Yalla, Let's Go!

Why do sharks gather off Israel's Mediterranean coast? Shark scientist Dr. Leigh Livne studies them at Hadera, and her research on pregnant sharks made it into Sir David Attenborough's BBC series Asia. She also converted to Judaism, made aliyah, and runs Belle Aviv, Tel Aviv's nearly 35,000-member community for women.

On this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica Marom and Abbey Onn talk with Leigh about sharks in Israel, converting to Judaism, building a community, and building a life here.

Leigh grew up in an American military family, left the U.S. at 17 for a decade of study in England, and moved to Israel in 2014 for a PhD in marine science after an Israeli postdoc (and his cooking) convinced her to come. She explains what's really happening at the Hadera power and desalination site, how she and her research partner, Aviad, catch, rope, and sample adult dusky and sandbar sharks alongside the boat, and how she got a black eye at 39 weeks pregnant. She also opens up about her two-year Orthodox conversion with Rabbi Ariel Konstantyn at the Tel Aviv International Synagogue, making aliyah in 2020, and turning Belle Aviv from a Facebook group into a company.

Plus: whether sharks actually want to eat you. (They don't.)

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

KEY TOPICS

0:00 - Intro

1:28 - Welcome & Pulse Check: Abbey's Hadera Shark Swim and the Fishing Hook

3:40 - Meet Dr. Leigh Livne: Shark Scientist and Belle Aviv Admin

4:15 - Life Story in a Minute: Military Family, 10 Years in England, PhD in Israel

5:05 - Why Israel? An Israeli Postdoc and the Food

6:34 - Sharks in Israel: The Hadera Power Plant, Desalination, and Warm Water

7:31 - Tagging Dusky and Sandbar Sharks — and the One Male Who Keeps Coming Back

8:03 - Sir David Attenborough, BBC's Asia, and "All the Sharks Are Pregnant"

8:37 - How Shark Researchers Catch, Rope, and Sample Sharks

9:43 - Shark Research Injuries: A Severed Tendon and a Black Eye at 39 Weeks Pregnant

9:57 - Doing a PhD in Israel as an Immigrant: Funding and Mentors Dan Tchernov and Shai Einbinder

11:16 - Why She Chose to Convert to Judaism

13:07 - Orthodox Conversion at Tel Aviv International Synagogue and Making Aliyah in 2020

13:58 - Belle Aviv: How Tel Aviv's Women-Only Facebook Group Began

15:41 - "Military Operation": Cleaning Up Belle Aviv With 24 Moderators

16:23 - From Facebook Group to Company: Monetizing Belle Aviv

17:42 - Belle Aviv's First In-Person Signature Event

18:51 - Has She Ever Considered Leaving Israel? Europe, Asia, and Staying Put

20:14 - What She Loves Most About Israel: The Food

20:39 - Aliyah Advice: Calm Down and Believe in Yourself

22:24 - Finding Home: Too Much for England, a Puppy in Israel

22:53 - At 80, Looking Back: A Shark Career That Only Happened in Israel

23:40 - Shark Myth Busted: Do Sharks Want to Eat You? + Rapid Fire

#Sharks #Israel #Aliyah #DavidAttenborough #YallaLetsGo

RESOURCES

Follow Leigh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leigh-livne-48357340/

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this special episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica Marom turns the microphone on her own co-host — Abbey Onn, Executive Director and co-founder of Nevo Network, the fellowship and professional community that has become the leading network for olim in Israeli high tech. Abbey moved from Fairfax, Virginia to Herzliya 11 years ago, and for the first time she is the one in the guest seat.

Abbey traces her path from directing Hillel's Hurricane Katrina response — 3,000 Jewish students rebuilding the Gulf Coast — to leadership development at Harvard's Kennedy School, to a hard professional landing in Israel with two toddlers and no network. She explains the data point that built Nevo: one in three English-speaking olim leave within three years, and how Nevo pushed retention above 90%. She also speaks, with extraordinary clarity, about October 7th, when five members of her family were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and about the months she spent as the English-speaking voice of the hostage families — speaking to Secretary of State Blinken, leading the Zoom with President Biden, and meeting with 17 senators.

The conversation continues with:

This is an honest, unguarded conversation about belonging, advocacy, and what it costs — and gives — to build a life here.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#AbbeyOnn #NevoNetwork #Israel #Aliyah #OlimInTech #IsraeliTech #October7 #NirOz #Hostages #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #Herzliya #JewishIdentity #MakingAliyah #IsraeliAmerican

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 - Intro

1:10 - Meet Abbey Onn: Yalla, Let's Go! Co-Host in the Guest Seat

2:12 - From Fairfax, Virginia to Israel: Brandeis, Hillel, and Hurricane Katrina

3:42 - Why She and Oded Made Aliyah: Family, Pace of Life, and 15 Feet of Boston Snow

6:55 - Running a Nonprofit While Raising Two Toddlers in a New Country

7:25 - Meeting Michael Eisenberg of Aleph and the Idea That Became Nevo

8:48 - Telling Michael Eisenberg His Idea Was Wrong

9:12 - One in Three English-Speaking Olim Leave Israel Within Three Years

9:56 - Building Nevo Network: From 66% Retention to Over 90%

10:24 - Why Nevo Focuses on Tech, and Why Doctors Are Next

11:17 - Winning the President's Award for Extraordinary Impact on Olim

11:48 - Why Belonging Is the One Thing Olim Are Missing

12:24 - How to Get Involved With Nevo Network

12:41 - Raising Kids in Israel: A Children-Led Society

13:51 - Small Kids, Small Problems: Preparing an American Son for the IDF

15:22 - Raising Israeli-American Kids Between Two Identities

16:16 - Hebrew With Each Other, English With Ima: Language at Home

17:30 - Why She Sends Her Israeli Kids to American Summer Camp

19:04 - October 7th: Five Family Members Taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz

21:10 - The Video of Erez and the Phone Call That Changed Everything

22:25 - Speaking to Secretary of State Blinken and Leading the Zoom With President Biden

24:07 - Losing Carmela and Noya Dan, and the Fight for the Hostages

26:36 - The Weight of Passing This Jewish Legacy to Her Children

27:24 - How She Told Her Kids the Truth About October 7th

29:32 - A Heart Connection She Can't Explain, and the Doubt She Carries

30:35 - Why She Feels Safer and More Herself in Israel Than in the US

31:57 - Would She Ever Move Back to America? 

33:00 - Aliyah Advice #1: You Cannot Stay in Israel Without Hebrew

33:55 - Aliyah Advice #2: Your Full-Time Job Is Meeting People for Coffee

34:54 - At 120, Looking Back: A Life Lived Outdoors

35:26 - Rapid Fire: Prichiot, Lidaskes & Nachsholim

RESOURCES

Follow Abbey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbey-onn/

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Yoni Heilman — CEO of TAMID Group, IDF reservist with more than 400 days of miluim since October 7th, and the show's first guest to have made aliyah twice — for a conversation about coming back for good in the middle of COVID, writing from inside the war, and why life in Israel is never just fine: it's either amazing or crisis.

Yoni was born in New York and spent his early years in Israel, leaving him with what he calls bicultural personality disorder: feeling like both a foreigner and a native in both countries. His career has crossed every sector — IDF soldier, US Congressional staffer, Knesset intern, Birthright Israel, a startup — before a group of undergraduates recruited him to run TAMID Group, the nonprofit connecting business-minded students on nearly 60 campuses (20 to 30 percent of them not Jewish) to Israel's startup ecosystem. He opens up about the WhatsApp group he started for his wife on the first night of the war that became SAPIR Journal's Diary of an IDF Soldier, the Columbia chapter president who kept building through the encampments, the summer cohort evacuated by boat, and the check-in agent who invited his family to her Seder the day they left Israel with an expired passport.

Also in the episode:

This is a raw, honest conversation about aliyah, service and belonging — and why life in Israel is never just fine.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#YoniHeilman #TAMID #Israel #Aliyah #IDF #Miluim #October7 #SapirJournal #Modiin #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #MakingAliyah #JewishIdentity #StartupNation #AmericanJews

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Nadav Keyson — CEO and co-founder of Riverside, the podcasting and video platform behind Taylor Swift's New Heights interview, Hillary Clinton's recordings, and Aleph's own Invested podcast — for a conversation about building a global company from Tel Aviv, moving from Amsterdam with his brothers, and why he has never once considered leaving.

Nadav grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Israel four and a half years ago, joining the brothers who had already made the move. He and his brothers Gideon and Yonatan built Riverside out of the ashes of an online video debate platform for Dutch politicians, and chose Tel Aviv over Amsterdam and the United States for the company's first office. He opens up about the Israel Police using Riverside to document witness testimonies after October 7th, the first paying customer who turned out to be a scam, what makes Israeli hiring different from Dutch hiring, and why the smartest people here go to startups instead of corporates.

Also in the episode:

This is a sharp, practical conversation about building a global company from Israel — and why he wouldn't build it anywhere else.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Daniil Chernov — Russian-born oleh, co-founder of The Reboot Startup Nation, Nevo Network board member, and an analytics leader who has worked at some of Israel’s biggest tech companies — for a conversation about arriving with a job but no network, building community from scratch, and what eight years in Israel taught him about impact.

Daniil grew up in a small city near Moscow, studied theoretical physics, decided it was too theoretical, and moved into tech. He made aliyah in 2018 while working at Gett — an arrival so smooth he calls it his “golden aliyah” — and then discovered that having a job is not the same as having a professional network. He and Katerina Greenstein launched The Reboot Startup Nation the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, and pivoted overnight from serving Russian-speaking olim already in Israel to absorbing an entire new wave of them. After October 7th, he turned that same community into Israel Delivery Aid, a volunteer logistics operation that ran roughly 1,000 rides carrying gear, food, water, mattresses, and evacuees across the country.

Also in the episode:

This is a practical, funny, and quietly moving conversation about networks, generosity, and what one person can actually build in a country this small.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#DaniilChernov #TheRebootStartupNation #RussianAliyah #Israel #Aliyah #IsraeliTech #NevoNetwork #October7 #TelAviv #RussianOlim #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #CommunityBuilding #TechCommunity #MakingAliyah

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 – Intro

0:56 – Meet Daniil Chernov: Russian Oleh, Israeli Tech Leader, and Community Builder

2:19 – Life Story in One Minute: Theoretical Physics to Israeli Tech

2:59 – Making Aliyah from Moscow in 2018 with Gett: The “Golden Aliyah”

4:02 – Two Very Different Aliyahs: His Experience vs. His Wife’s

5:16 – The LinkedIn Party That Showed Him He Had No Network in Israel

6:00 – Launching The Reboot Startup Nation the Day Before the Ukraine War

6:08 – Building a Russian-Language Tech Community for Olim in Israel

8:11 – After October 7th: How Israel Delivery Aid Was Built

9:30 – 1,000 Volunteer Rides: Gear, Food, Water, and Evacuations

11:39 – Co-Founding With a Ukrainian Partner While Russia and Ukraine Were at War

11:57 – Moderating 14,000 Community Members Through the Hardest Conversations

13:26 – Why He Has More Impact in Israel Than He Ever Had in Russia

14:32 – How Israelis Help Strangers: One Cold LinkedIn Message

15:28 – Hit by a Car on an Electric Scooter in Tel Aviv

15:59 – The Doctors’ Protest, the Ambulance, and the Emergency Room

17:29 – Waiting a Week for Surgery: Inside the Israeli Healthcare System

19:25 – Shoulder Surgery, Private Clinics, and Insurance Through Work

19:48 – Would He Ever Leave Israel? Not Back to Russia

20:52 – His Wife Ksusha and the Israeli Market for Non-Mizrahi Music

22:13 – What He Loves Most About Israel: Freedom and People Who Show Up

23:03 – Aliyah Advice: Learn Hebrew, at Least the Alphabet

23:34 – How Good Is His Hebrew After Eight Years?

23:59 – Rapid Fire: Entrecote in a Tortilla, Tachles & “Who Is a Jew?”

RESOURCES

Follow Daniil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniilchernov/

Learn more about The Reboot Startup Nation: https://www.israel-reboot.com/

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Gili Fleekop — known online as Gili from Philly — co-founder of TikTok marketing agency Pink Chili, former social media lead at ironSource, and founder of Unit 107, the volunteer-run supply initiative that raised close to $400,000 for Israeli soldiers after October 7th.

Gili shares her journey from the Philadelphia suburbs — raised by an Israeli mother and an American father — to building a life in Israel after a year of service with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She opens up about landing her breakthrough role at ironSource after more than 50 rejections, teaching herself social media from scratch, and turning her personal TikTok following into a fully-inbound marketing agency with her co-founder Noam. She also talks about mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to support reservists after October 7th, marrying her husband Gavriel at the Great Synagogue of Rome, and why she sometimes considers a move back to the US over her fears about the state of Israeli AI and tech.

The conversation continues with:

This is a candid, high-energy conversation about hustle, faith, and finding your niche by betting on yourself.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#GiliFleekop #GiliFromPhilly #PinkChili #Israel #Aliyah #TikTok #IsraeliTech #Unit107 #October7 #IronSource #Entrepreneur #TikTokMarketing #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #WomenInTech

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 - Intro

1:34 - Pulse Check: Abbey's Overwhelming, Wonderful Israeli Summer

2:18 - Mazal Tov! Planning a Rome Wedding From Tel Aviv

3:32 - Gili's Life Story: Philosophy, the Joint, and Finding Her Path

4:48 - Growing Up in an Israeli-American Home in the Philly Suburbs

6:30 - Fake It Till You Make It: Her Path to ironSource

9:09 - Learning Instagram and TikTok From Scratch, Overnight

9:54 - Giving Herself a “PhD” in Social Media

10:57 - When ironSource TikToks Became a Recruiting Machine

11:02 - Quitting Together: Launching Pink Chili With Co-Founder Noam

12:53 - Building a TikTok Agency as an American-Israeli Founding Duo

14:07 - Going Viral and Staying Authentic on TikTok

14:59 - The Law of Attraction: Filling a Room of 200 to Land Clients

16:44 - Is TikTok as Lucrative in Israel as in the US?

17:37 - October 7th From America: Founding Unit 107

19:54 - Marrying a Reservist and Why Supporting Soldiers Is Her Mission

21:11 - Philly as “Mini Israel”: Chef Mike, Zahav, and the Soom Sisters

22:52 - Would She Leave Israel? Her Fears About Israeli AI

24:33 - Aliyah Advice: Be Fearless and Never Take No for an Answer

25:30 - What She Loves Most About Life in Israel

26:57 - At 80, Looking Back: The Business Only Israel Could Give Her

27:27 - Rapid Fire: Bamba, Tachles & the Ambassador in Ulpan

RESOURCES

Follow Gili on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilifleekop/ 

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Fay Goldstein — co-founder and CEO of Bardin, and an olah from the United States — for a candid conversation about talking her way into the IDF at 28, building a startup during wartime, and what it really means to become Israeli.

Fay grew up in a Chabad family that moved constantly across the US before settling in Florida, and first connected to Israel through religious seminary and the Tel Aviv beach and party scene she snuck out to see. She made aliyah at 27, then convinced the IDF's head of recruitment to let her draft at 28 — a decade older than her fellow soldiers — after being told she was “a liability.” After her service, she left politics for tech, working in a startup and in VC before founding Bardin, a company she built while serving reserve duty and guiding tech missions through southern Israel in the wake of October 7th.

Also in the episode:

Growing up in a nomadic Chabad family and finding Zionism before religion

Talking her way into the IDF at 28 with a handwritten exemption override

Raising angel investment from the Gaza border while on reserve duty

How guiding tech missions after October 7th led to her first investors

Leaving VC and startups behind to become a founder herself

Rejecting the “lost olah” identity and choosing to become fully Israeli

Building chosen family and community as an immigrant without family in Israel

Aliyah advice: learn Hebrew and seek out community beyond other olim

This is a conversation about grit, identity, and what it means to build both a life and a company in Israel, on your own terms.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#FayGoldstein #Bardin #Israel #Aliyah #IDF #TechInIsrael #StartupIsrael #October7 #OlahChadasha #JewishIdentity #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #WomenFounders #MakingAliyah #IsraeliTech

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 - Intro

0:55 - Meet Fay Goldstein: Bardin Co-Founder and CEO

2:42 - Life Story in 60 Seconds: 27 Houses and a Chabad Upbringing

4:01 - Why She Made Aliyah: Zionism Before Religion

6:32 - Talking Her Way Into the IDF at Age 28

8:24 - “You're a Liability”: The Exemption Letter From Yossi Matzliach

8:55 - Building Bardin: An AI Startup Born From ChatGPT

9:18 - Raising Money From the Gaza Border During Reserve Duty

11:42 - How Reserve Duty Led to Her First Angel Investors

12:10 - Leaving VC and Startups to Become a Founder

13:11 - Building Chosen Family and Community as an Olah

15:08 - Rejecting the “Lost Olah” Identity

18:25 - Aliyah Advice: Learn Hebrew and Find Real Community

20:30 - Rapid Fire: Chicken Kebabs, “Em,” and the Golan

RESOURCES

Follow Fay on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faygoldstein/ 

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Jillian Goldberg — olah from Cincinnati, former CRO of Israeli automotive cybersecurity startup EcoMotion, Teach For America alum, powerlifter, and Israeli Ninja Warrior contestant — for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about reinvention, belonging, and building an unlikely life in Israel.

Jillian came to Israel for a one-year master's degree at Tel Aviv University and never left. She joined her professor's startup as its first non-technical employee, grew into the global CRO, and quietly built and sold cyber products to the U.S. Army — all while becoming a powerlifter with Israeli national records, competing on Ninja Warrior, and playing on the national flag football team. After October 7th, she jumped into crisis communications for hostage families, working closely with the U.S. government before anyone had heard of the Hostage Forum.

Also in the episode:

From inner-city Dallas classrooms (Teach For America) to Israeli cybersecurity startup CRO

Building and selling U.S. Army cyber products from Tel Aviv — before defense was sexy

October 7th hostage communications: doing the work before the Hostage Forum existed

Israeli Ninja Warrior: competing on a course she'd never seen before

Marrying into an Ashkenazi-Mizrahi family: Ariel, Ladino, and trial by fire

Why Israel gave her opportunities America never would — and what she still misses

This is a bold, funny, and deeply personal conversation about reinvention, resilience, and the life you build when you show up with everything you've got.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#JillianGoldberg #Israel #Aliyah #IsraeliTech #October7 #HostageAdvocacy #Cybersecurity #TeachForAmerica #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #WomenInTech #Powerlifting #NinjaWarrior #MakingAliyah

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 - Intro

1:07 - Jillian Goldberg: Olah from Cincinnati, Former CRO, Powerlifter, Israeli Ninja Warrior

3:09 - From Teach For America Teacher in Dallas to Master's Degree at Tel Aviv University

5:52 - First Non-Technical Hire at EcoMotion: Growing into Global CRO of an Israeli Cybersecurity Startup

6:01 - Why She Made Aliyah: One-Year Master's Program, Ten Years Later Still in Israel

7:01 - Israeli Ninja Warrior, Israeli National Powerlifting Records, and the National Flag Football Team

9:53 - Career-Building in Israeli Tech: Nevo Network, Olim Networking, and Growing into CRO

11:50 - From Startup CRO to Investor: What She Learned from the Founder's Seat

13:35 - October 7th Hostage Communications: Working with Families and the U.S. Government Before the Hostage Forum

16:44 - Psychological Cost of October 7th: Six Months Without Crying and a Year of Rebuilding

18:23 - American Olah in Israeli Tech: How Speaking American Became a Career Advantage

20:25 - How She Met Her Israeli Husband at a CrossFit Gym in Tel Aviv

22:04 - Ashkenazi-Mizrahi Marriage: Merging an American Reform Jewish Family with a Libyan-Bulgarian Israeli Household

23:55 - Has She Ever Considered Leaving Israel? Her Honest Answer

25:26 - What She Loves About Israel: Shared Identity With Every Person on the Street

26:06 - Aliyah Advice: Jump In, Ask for Help, Don't Be Afraid to Fail

27:10 - At 80, Looking Back: The Friendships in Israel That Became Family

27:47 - Rapid Fire: Krembo, Tachles & NFL Sunday

RESOURCES

Follow Jillian on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-m-goldberg/ 

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Melissa Weiss — executive editor of Jewish Insider and olah from the United States — for a candid conversation about journalism in wartime Israel, building community as a single immigrant, and why she has never once considered leaving.

Melissa grew up in a small, secular Jewish community in upstate New York before discovering Israel through youth groups, Birthright, and winter break trips. After living in South Korea, Washington DC, New York, and Mexico City, she made aliyah four years ago — and hasn't looked back. She now leads Jewish Insider's Israel operations from Tel Aviv, covering US-Israel politics, campus antisemitism, and the war, often while sirens are going off overhead.

Also in the episode:

From the Catskills to Tel Aviv: Melissa's unlikely path to aliyah

Building Jewish Insider from Israel — covering DC politics from a Tel Aviv time zone

Reporting during October 7th, the Iran war, and life between bomb shelters and deadlines

Making friends, finding community, and dating as a single Anglo immigrant in Israel

The bureaucracy, the beauty, and the Shabbat smells from her mirpeset

Aliyah advice: rolling with the punches when nothing is intuitive

At 80, looking back: finally doing the one thing she always wanted to do

This is a warm, funny, and deeply honest conversation about purpose, resilience, and what it means to build a life in Israel from scratch.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#MelissaWeiss #JewishInsider #Israel #Aliyah #TelAviv #JournalismInIsrael #October7 #IsraeliLife #AngloCommunity #JewishIdentity #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #WomenInJournalism #MakingAliyah #WarCorrespondent

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 – Intro

0:57 - Meet Melissa Weiss: Executive Editor of Jewish Insider and Tel Aviv Olah

3:02 - From the Catskills to Tel Aviv: Melissa's Path to Aliyah

4:04 - Why She Finally Made Aliyah After 20 Years of Thinking About It

5:48 - From Advocacy to Journalism: The Israel Project, Campus Coalitions, and Jewish Insider

7:33 - Running Jewish Insider's Israel Operations: Building a Newsroom Across Time Zones

8:24 - Covering DC Politics from Tel Aviv: How She Stays Plugged In

9:54 - Journalism Under Fire: Reporting October 7th, Iran, and Wartime Israel

12:17 - Sending the Newsletter From the Bomb Shelter: Normalizing the Abnormal

13:05 - Building Community as a Single Anglo Immigrant in Tel Aviv

15:35 - Dating in Tel Aviv: Apps, the Beach, and Israeli Men

17:57 - Has She Ever Considered Leaving? Her Answer.

18:10 - What It Means to Wake Up Every Day with Purpose

20:10 - What Grates on Her About Life in Israel

21:38 - The Go-To Girl: Building a Reputation as a Resource for Fellow Olim

23:00 - Aliyah Advice: Roll With the Punches, Lose the Expectations

24:44 - At 80, Looking Back: She Did the One Thing She Always Wanted

25:26 - Rapid Fire: Pomelo, Mamash & the Mount of Beatitudes

RESOURCES

Follow Melissa on X: https://x.com/melissaeweiss  

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Lena Russovsky — Soviet-born Israeli journalist, KAN broadcaster, biotech researcher, and founder of “Russian Women Without a Sense of Humor,” one of Israel’s largest online communities with over 56,000 members — for a conversation about Russian aliyah, immigrant identity, and building a life in Israel.

Lena made aliyah from Moscow in 1991 at age nine, arriving just as the Soviet Union was collapsing. She grew up as part of the “1.5 generation” — Soviet-born children who immigrated young and came of age as Israelis — and has spent her career advocating for Russian-speaking olim, amplifying immigrant women’s voices, and building community across Israeli society.

Also in the episoide:

The Soviet Jewish immigration experience and what the 1991 aliyah wave was really like

Discrimination and harassment faced by Russian-speaking women in Israel

What the melting pot ideal got wrong — and why immigrant identity can’t be erased

Building a 56,000-member community from a moment of rage on national TV

The 1.5 generation: growing up between two cultures, two languages, two identities

Returning to Russia 20 years later and feeling nothing

Aliyah advice for Russian-speaking immigrants making the move today

What freedom really means when you grew up Jewish in the Soviet Union

This is a powerful conversation about immigration, identity, and the courage it takes to build a life among your people.

Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel.

#LenaRussovsky #RussianAliyah #SovietJews #Israel #Aliyah #1point5Generation #RussianOlim #JewishImmigration #IsraeliSociety #IsraeliWomen #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #CommunityBuilding #JewishIdentity #FormerSovietUnion

KEY TOPICS 

0:00 – Intro

1:09 – Who Is Lena Russovsky: Russian Olah, Journalist, Activist, Community Builder

3:12 – Making Aliyah from the Soviet Union in 1991

4:58 – Arriving in Israel as the Soviet Union Collapsed

7:17 – How She Built a Career in Biotech, Broadcasting, and Activism

8:46 – Would She Be the Same Person If She’d Stayed in Russia?

9:50 – “Russian Women Without a Sense of Humor”: Why She Founded the Community

11:56 – Discrimination Against Russian-Speaking Immigrant Women in Israel

14:30 – Inside a 56,000-Member Community for Russian-Speaking Olim

15:35 – The 1.5 Generation and the Myth of the Israeli Melting Pot

18:49 – Growing Up Between Russia and Israel: The Immigrant Child Experience

20:34 – Did She Ever Consider Leaving Israel?

21:02 – Returning to Russia After 20 Years: What She Found

22:44 – What She Loves Most About Living in Israel

23:57 – Aliyah Advice for Russian-Speaking Immigrants

25:09 – At 80, Looking Back: Who She Became Because of Aliyah

25:49 – Rapid Fire: Hummus, Yalla & Hugging Strangers

RESOURCES

Follow Lena on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-russovsky-2131b2311/ 

Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go 

Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc 

Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast 

Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph

‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/

‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/

CREDITS

Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn 

Executive Producer: Sarah Bard

Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider

Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir

Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar 

Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg

Design: Nimrod Sapir